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Showing posts with label no time. Show all posts
Showing posts with label no time. Show all posts

Thursday, 16 October 2014

Wishing West Was East

Please bear with the lack of action on this blog. Although I don't have time to blog at the moment, I haven't much to blog about anyway!

Every day my dog walks have been getting me out for a bit, but it does seem pretty quiet out there. The weathers not been helpful though, and this I'm sure is why the 'vis mig' has been so below par. Apart from a few SkylarkMeadow Pipits, Swallows, House Martins and four Siskin over Seaton Hole on Monday - very little has been flying over this part of Devon when I've been out and about.

Seems equally sparse in the trees and bushes at the moment too, with Chiffchaff numbers having dropped right off this week.  Ever hopeful for a Yellow-browed, and I'm sure there's at least one out there, but it's a needle in a haystack job.  I did hope my varied dog walking locations and routes would increase my chances of seeing/hearing one, but not yet...

Yesterday I fancied a change of scenery and actually spent ten minutes proper birding, with a look along the Estuary before work.  There were lots of gulls, lots and lots, but sadly nothing better than an adult Med Gull and at least four adult intermedius Lesser Black-backed Gulls...

As black as the Great Black-backs

It's been sickening and so frustrating seeing the reports coming out of the east of the country over the last few days, with Dungeness bragging 550+ Ring Ouzels on one day, and numerous rarities appearing along the whole length of the east coast. Thousands of Redwings have also arrived into the UK now, and finally I heard one flying over Seaton at about 9:30 last night - yet to see one though.

The only other slightly notable birds that I've seen were a couple of new Cetti's Warbler, one singing in Axe Reedbed (my first singing male in the valley for years) and a calling bird at Lower Bruckland Ponds. 

Thanks for staying with me viewers, hopefully within a couple of weeks blog posts will become more regular again...

Monday, 23 January 2012

Still No Time...

...for birding or blogging!

But I have just seen this on the net. Click on this link and scroll half way down to the Robin in Cumbria...

http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/gbw/about/background/projects/plumage/gallery?dm_i=IG4,NMDQ,3CXANV,1WQEQ,1

Especially in the right hand photo - doesn't that look rare! Imagine if you glimpsed that skulking about in the bushes at your local migration hotspot!!!

Early afternoon update: I lied in the post title! I did have enough time for a sweep of the Estuary, which was nice.

The highlight was two Golden Plovers that flew in from Colyford Marsh direction and landed with Lapwing north of Coronation Corner.

Amongst the gulls were seven adult Med Gulls (including one white ringed bird, I have sent the ring details off for it), and a very dark mantled Herring Gull. It had lots of black in the primaries, was clean headed and average sized, so I think it was just a darker than average
argenteus.